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NYFW: Running Through The Desert With Laura Siegel

Laura Siegel SS13

Local craft and cacti meet in Laura Siegel’s NYFW Spring/Summer 2013 collection.

After months voyaging through Peru, Bolivia and India, Canadian designer Laura Siegel uncovered the indigenous crafts of remote villages and local artisans. She also discovered cacti—the succulents that caught her eye and inspired an entire Spring/Summer 2013 collection.

Laura Siegel Cacti NYFW SS13

“It was amazing to me how something so bright and colorful as the cacti flowers could grow in such dry, muted deserts,” Siegel tells EcoSalon. From South America to Asia she explored life in the desert and the beauty that exists within it—like the re-purposed black tea waste in Kerala, India used to dye pieces within her collection, or the hand block printing renowned in this region. Farther north, in Delhi, she partnered with a leather smith to stitch her bags into finished pieces. In Peru, she partnered with a group of natural dyers called Eco Tintes, who softly colored the organic cotton and tencel fibers used to crochet pants (below) and knit shirts and sweaters.

Laura Siegel NYFW SS13

From cacti to indigenous crafts, in her third season, Siegel shows range as a designer—fashioning jewelry, designing handbags and creating a complete collection omitting only shoes from her repertoire—a “future dream,” she tells us. With the free flowing nature of Siegel’s compilation, we’d be happy to tromp barefoot through the desert and all. And that’s how she wants you to feel when you wear her designs. “Happy,” she says. “Just happy.”

Designer Laura Siegel modeling her epynomous collection.

More looks we love:

Laura Siegel NYFW SS13

Laura Siegel NYFW SS13

Laura Siegel embroidered catcus bag, NYFW SS13

Laura Siegel shoes from Love is Mighty, NYFW SS13

Shoes by Love is Mighty

Images: Jennifer Barckley